


Isolated, But Not Alone

by namidaame49



Category: Persona 4
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23339776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/namidaame49/pseuds/namidaame49
Summary: Yu spends some time quarantined in Inaba during the pandemic, reassuring Nanako while he's there. But who reassures him?
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 1
Kudos: 64





	Isolated, But Not Alone

**Author's Note:**

> #StayHomeWriMo Day 1 prompt: "Write about a character who's stuck inside. How do they feel about it? Why are they there?" Slight AU -- takes place about a year after the events of Persona 4, but that year is 2020. Also I don't know if Japan did any lockdowns for coronavirus in the real world.

"Welcome back to your nightly news. Next up, the latest on the global pandemic."

The atmosphere in the Dojima living room palpably changed with the news anchor's announcement. Nanako's fork hovered in midair for a moment, while Dojima's scowl -- already in place as he reviewed some files for a case -- deepened even more, though he didn't spare so much as a glance at the TV. Yu looked up from his bowl of nikujaga, appetite diminishing at the fresh reminder of just how upside-down the world was at that moment.

"The death toll continues to rise despite the increasingly-strict lockdowns being instituted in the hardest-hit countries. Scientists are attributing this rise to a lack of strict adherence to social distancing protocols intended to slow the spread of the disease. In many popular tourist destinations, large groups of people congregate on already-planned vacations -- "

Dojima slammed a fist on the kitchen table, making both Yu and Nanako jump. Scowling even deeper, he stalked over to the remote. "Kids these days, thinking they're so damn invincible." With a click, the TV became dark. "Scientists tell you to stay inside, you stay inside. You don't go on a trip to the beach." He dropped the remote onto the futon, cast a dark look at the papers on the table, and let out a breath through pursed lips. "This casework can wait till tomorrow. I'm turning in early."

Nanako waited until her dad had slid the door closed to his room, then turned to Yu, her eyes big. "Big bro, are we going to die?" she asked, her voice quavering just a bit.

Yu turned to look at her, sitting across the table from him. "From the pandemic? Probably not, as long as we follow the doctors' orders."

"But doesn't Daddy have to go out and work still?"

Yu dropped his eyes back to his bowl. "Yes, Nanako. Unfortunately he has an essential job."

"And isn't Yosuke-nii still working at Junes?" Nanako's eyes were now brimming with tears, and Yu found himself blinking back a stinging feeling in his own eyes.

"Junes is our grocery store. He's helping make sure everyone can still get food."

As Nanako's tears spilled over, Yu scooted over so his back was to the futon, patting the floor next to him. As Nanako crawled over to bury her head in his chest and sob, he patted her head soothingly. "We're all pretty healthy going into this, though. The hope is that we can isolate ourselves so folks who aren't as healthy won't get it, and if they do, there is enough space in the hospitals for them."

He let Nanako cry herself out, then pulled her away just enough so he could look her in the eyes. "I need you to be brave, Nanako. We're in this for the long haul, but we've got each other to get through this. You with me?"

Nanako gulped back the rest of her tears, sitting up as straight as she could. "I'm with you, big bro," she proclaimed, with all the sincerity she could muster.

"Good. Now, it's getting late. You should get ready for bed."

* * *

Yu padded upstairs and quietly shut the door to his room, sitting down wearily on his couch. His parents had flown to Seattle for business mere days before the number of cases there had skyrocketed. Once it became clear that they were going to be stuck there for a while -- and quarantined for even longer after their eventual return -- his mother had made a rare phone call to request that he travel to Inaba and stay with the Dojimas until things calmed down and they could return. He had packed up only too gladly; while he was used to being alone in his parents' apartment, it was never easy, and having a global pandemic looming had not done any favors for his mental health. Even though everything in Inaba had shut down almost as soon as he'd arrived, being quarantined with Nanako and Dojima was much better than fretting alone in Tokyo while his parents were stranded in the States.

Glumly, Yu unlocked his phone, checking the different communication apps he had accumulated to stay in touch with various people. Yosuke had set up a Discord server for the Investigation Team, but his parents primarily communicated with him through email and his few city friends had been almost entirely incommunicado since he'd left. Right now, no notifications sought his attention, which wasn't terribly surprising since he had checked all of them right before dinner.

Just as he was about to silence his phone and go to bed, a text came in. Yu's fingers flew to the messages app and opened it to see what Yosuke had sent him.

_still up?_

Yu hastily swiped out a response. _I am. What's up?_

A moment of nothing, then three dots appeared to indicate Yosuke was typing, some more hesitation, and then more typing. _can I just call you?_

_Of course._

Yu hastily turned his phone on silent before it could ring to avoid disturbing anyone else in the house, answering it as soon as Yosuke's name flashed up on caller ID. "What's wrong, Yosuke?"

"Getting right to the point, huh?" Yosuke sounded more exhausted than Yu had ever heard him, even including all the Shadow fights in the TV world. "I just wanted to hear someone's voice who wasn't yelling at me for Junes being out of toilet paper."

Yu chuckled. "If you'd like, I could yell at you for Junes being out of hair gel."

"Dude, you don't even _use_ hair gel! Your hair just stays put like that on its own! It's unnatural!"

"It's one of my finest qualities."

Yosuke made a strained grunt in reply, but he already sounded a bit more energetic than at the start of the call. "How are you and Nanako doing?"

"Nanako's hanging in there about as well as I could expect. She's worried about you."

"About me?" Yosuke sounded surprised, but also touched. "Tell her I'll be fine."

"I will."

There was a moment of silence.

"Okay, that's how Nanako is. What about you?"

Yu hesitated. He had slipped back into the role of big brother to Nanako and leader of their group of misfits so effortlessly that the words automatically on his lips were "I'm fine", but he knew Yosuke wouldn't buy that right now.

"It's...weird. I'm so much closer to all of you, but I can't actually be around any of you because of the quarantine. And yeah, I'm worried too. You're basically on the front lines working at Junes. Kanji's family's business wasn't doing well before this, and with the shutdown I'm afraid they won't come back from it. Same with the Amagi Inn and Marukyu. Chie has probably roundhouse kicked a hole in her bedroom wall at this point because she can't kung fu a virus into submission. Rise and Naoto are still in Tokyo and it's much worse there. Dojima's still out working, so Nanako and I could catch it from him..."

Once he started, the words just kind of spilled out, getting shakier and shakier. When his mind finally stopped presenting him with Things To Worry About, he pressed his lips together tightly, roughly passing the back of his hand across his eyes to wipe away the wetness there.

Yosuke let out a breath. "I hear you, partner," he said, voice gentle. "Wish I'd known you were feeling like this earlier."

Yu shrugged, even though Yosuke couldn't see him through the phone. "There's nothing you can do about it. Unless Junes has a vaccine coming out that I don't know about."

A short laugh. "It would be the new hotness if we did. But listen, you gotta have somebody to talk to. Dojima's got his own shit to deal with, and I know you've gotta be strong for Nanako. But you can talk to me, all right? Promise me you'll talk to me whenever you're feeling like that again, okay?"

Yu smiled wryly at the phone. "I promise."

There was another silence, one that neither of them wanted to break. But finally, Yosuke cleared his throat. "How long are you going to be here for?"

"I don't know. I'll be here at least until the trains start running to Tokyo again. Maybe longer, depending on the situation. I think the schools are planning to do remote learning for the rest of the school year at this point, so it doesn't make much difference whether I'm in Tokyo or Inaba."

"Yeah, I guess nothing's certain right now, is it? Wish I could see you."

Yu blushed slightly at those words. He wasn't quite sure where he and Yosuke stood in their relationship to each other, but he couldn't help but want to read into that comment. "Yeah, it'd be nice to get to hang out while I'm here. Can't risk it with Nanako and Dojima in the house, though. Dojima would kill me if I caught the plague and passed it to Nanako."

"Yeah, for sure." Yosuke sounded tired again. "Well, at least we could talk for a bit. Listen, I'm gonna go to bed for now. I've gotta get up early to help flood the entire store with bleach. I'll send you my work schedule. Maybe we can set up a gaming session over Discord when I'm off at some point. Take care of yourself, partner."

"You too, partner." The word was softer than Yu had intended, but oh well. "Sleep well."

"'Night!"

"'Night."

The call ended. Yu stood up and stretched before changing into his pajamas. Even though he never left the house, he changed into regular clothes during the day to maintain some semblance of normalcy. As he turned to go to bed, he stopped to look at the picture frames that had slowly accumulated on his wall during the year he had spent in Inaba previously.

There was a candid shot Yukiko had taken of him, Yosuke, and Chie in the early days of their friendship, where Yosuke was on the ground gesturing angrily, Chie was laughing, and Yu was smiling broadly at the two of them. One of Yosuke and Teddie. The family photo of Yu, Nanako, and Dojima. Nanako riding on his shoulders in their backyard, her hands gleefully thrown skyward as she laughed. The photo of all of them outside the shrine that they had gotten Rise's grandmother to take. And the one of him and Yosuke walking together, arms slung around each other's shoulders. Naoto had taken that one, with a keen eye, excellent timing, and perhaps a knowing glint in her eye when she had handed him the framed photo the week before he had left Inaba.

He smiled, eyes lingering for just a moment longer on that last photo, before turning out the light and pulling up the covers. Sure, this would be rough, but they would get through it.

They always did.


End file.
